With the increase of gambling at gaming venues has come increased competition between gaming venues to obtain a larger share of the total gambling spend. Gaming venue operators have therefore continuously looked for new variations and types of games in order to attract both new and return customers to their venues.
In response to this need, suppliers of gaming devices and systems have attempted to provide the sought after variety, while still developing games that comply with the relevant regulations in the jurisdiction of the gaming venue operator. Suppliers of gaming devices therefore are faced with restrictions on the types of games and gaming machines that are allowable, both in terms of the prevailing regulations and in terms of providing a return on investment to the gaming venue operators.
Gaming machines that provide players with significant choices as to the wager that they wish to stake are now common. For example, in a spinning reel game in which reels carrying game symbols are randomly stopped in a certain position to define outcomes in the form of symbols along pay lines across the reels, players are often given the choice to wager on a variable number of pay lines and given the choice to wager a variable amount on each pay line. For example, in a first game play, the player may choose to wager 1 credit on three pay lines for a total wager of 3 credits and in a second game play the player may choose to wager 2 credits on ten pay lines, for a total wager of 20 credits. On a 1 cent denomination machine, the first wager would cost 3 cents and the second wager 20 cents. Typically, if a winning combination occurs along one of the three pay lines in the first game, the gaming machine awards the value specified by the prize schedule of the gaming machine, and if the same winning combination occurs along one of the ten pay lines in the second game, the gaming machine awards twice the value specified by the prize schedule.
Gaming machines that offer one or more special prizes, for example progressive prizes, large prizes, or non-monetary prizes have experienced widespread success. To offer a progressive prize, a gaming machine may contribute a certain percentage of wagers staked to a progressive prize, which is then won on a specific progressive prize winning event. An example of a prize winning event that has been used in the past is the occurrence of a particular combination of symbols. Other methods of awarding progressive prizes and other prizes have been developed and there remains a need for new methods of awarding prizes. Such special prizes can not normally be multiplied depending on the wager staked.
In determining a method of awarding a prize, a game designer usually has to ensure that the gaming machine has a particular average return to player. For example the gaming machine, on average, may have to return approximately 85% of all wagers to the player as winnings. The increased options now available to players in many games played on gaming machines, including options to wager multiple credits per pay line or other outcome of a game and the option to simultaneously play multiple outcomes, together with other game features such as the possibility of winning a progressive prize, raises problems in determining how to achieve a required return to player, while providing a prize awarding method that is appropriate.